AN~ New rule for the question of the day thing: if you're going to be eligible, you have to actually review the story, not just answer the question. On another note, I'm going to try to get 100 chapters by Thursday, since it was pointed out to me that that's the three year anniversary of NGHC.
The Winner of Last Question of the Day: I had a really hard time picking, because most of the answers were pretty intense and awesome and full of holy-wow-you-people-are-going-to-change-the-world-ness. But the winner is ANannyMouse because she wants to be a Walmart Greeter. And that just made my day, that comment.
New Question of the Day: Tell me a corny joke. A new one. The cornier, the better.
Eponine thenardier: You reviewed just in time to be in the running! I was JUST about to update when I got your review. Is Oliver still on Broadway? I didn't know that. I love musicals.
Ghost Reader: I know you wrote this on 'Birth of a Pixie', but you said in your review that you read this story, so I'm going to respond here, just because that means you get a response. :) I appreciate all your points, and am glad I convinced you to review. I think that the problem with ff is that you can't sort by popularity, like you can with DeviantART. Because there are some genuinely good fanfics out there, but they're (for the most part) rarely updated. I know I don't WRITE a lot of Puckabrina (if you want something a little more... laden of mine, 'Mashed Potatoes and Wedding Cakes', 'TwentyFive', 'Read 1, Get 2 Free', and 'Hundred' all have their fluffy spots. Especially 'Mashed Potatoes and Wedding Cakes', which is a lot younger than the others, and thus, better), but that doesn't mean I don't like it. I love romance. It's why I came here in the first place. I just don't like WRITING straight romance. It bores me. So I take well more than my share of time.
Agd: You're in luck. I was GOING to save the intense Puckabrina for the very end, but then I decided to move it up. You've got maybe three more plot arcs, and then they'll get serious. Sabrina's shy because that's the way I picture her. If you notice, she doesn't like to be the focal point unless she's angry. People who care that much about what other people think of them (look how easy she blushes) tend to be shy. And oh, good, I thought maybe you'd gotten mad at me for not wanting to stick to one thing.
Purpleflower23: Thanks! :D I appreciate the praise
warisha: Well, yes, those things happen. Sometime in the future. Not necessarily in that order. But THIS is actually a setback. Puck just told her he doesn't like her. Your first dream job: ME TOO! Actually, people expected me to be a doctor 'cause both my parents are... Your second dream job: Wow. Big dreams, there. *cowers in inferiority*
Demigod536: Well, kind of. :) And it's fine.
QN: Thanks for the review! The title is a bit too dramatic, but I was stumped on one, and I was like, 'hey! I'll take something from in the story!' My goal is to have a chapter up by every Friday. :)
The library was more crowded than usual today after school, because Marcus, Annie, and quite a few of their friends had all taken Sabrina up on her offer to merge the two study groups. Daphne had taken Sabrina's acceptance of the humans as her cue to invite her friends permanently to the group, and now everyone was trying to work out a new way to organize things. Sabrina was trying to keep out of the way, hiding in the stacks by a window, with Peaseblossom.
"What's up?" Peaseblossom asked.
"Nothing." Sabrina said. "What makes you think something's up?"
"That's the fifth time you've sighed since we got here." Peaseblossom pointed out. "Something must be wrong. You're not a sigh-er."
"Your brother is what's wrong, if you must know." Sabrina glared at a bug on the window, which suddenly started floating.
The bug's legs flailed as it tried frantically to make gravity start working again. Sabrina, a bit guiltily, let the bug back down.
"What did he do now?" Peaseblossom asked, smiling a little. Sabrina had a feeling she was thinking 'I should have guessed'.
"Nothing." Sabrina made a face. "Nothing at all. And even if he had, I wouldn't tell you."
"Ooh, it's bad, then?" Peaseblossom asked.
Sabrina sighed again.
"All, right, dish." Peaseblossom said. "I can't take the teen angst!"
"It's just..." Sabrina screwed up her face, "He told me he doesn't like me."
"Oh." Peaseblossom says. "Ouch."
"Yeah." Sabrina said.
"Are you sure?" Peaseblossom asked. "He could have been lying."
"Yeah, except I kind of have this thing where I can tell when people are lying, and he wasn't." Sabrina said. "I've had it for a while, so I'm pretty sure."
"You sure?" Peaseblossom asked. "You've been losing stuff lately. Maybe you lost that and didn't notice."
"Try it." Sabrina suggested.
"All right." Peaseblossom said. "Do I just... lie?"
"Yeah, that's about it." Sabrina nodded.
"I... am wearing pink underwear today." Peaseblossom said, fumbling around in her mind for a lie that wouldn't be incriminating.
Her face flashed red, and Sabrina responded promptly, "False."
"Yeah, but how do I know you're not faking?" Peaseblossom pointed out. "I mean, you could totally have told me that to make me think that you still have that ability when you don't."
"Why in the name of all things normal would I do that?" Sabrina asked. "It works, trust me."
Peaseblossom made a face. "I liked the idea of you two together." She said. "You made him care about other people. Not that he didn't before, it's just... You got him to stop putting his shallow, selfish side before everything else. And now..."
"Yeah, well, it's not going to happen." Sabrina said, folding her arms on the windowsill and shoving her chin in between them sulkily.
"What did he say, exactly?" Peaseblossom asked.
"'Just because I don't like you that way doesn't mean I don't like someone else'." Sabrina mimicked, not lifting her head up.
"How do you know he meant it, then?" Peaseblossom asked, brightening. "It could only work with exact lies, and that wasn't him saying he didn't-"
"Stop!" Sabrina half-shouted, sitting up and putting a hand in front of Peaseblossom's face. "Just stop, OK? I already thought about it, but..." She softened a bit, "I've already had my hope taken away. I don't want to get it back just to lose it again."
Peaseblossom looked as if she were going to say something else, but suddenly a bookcase fell over, knocking into its neighbor and causing that one to lean into the shelf next to it, all three of them spilling books left and right.
Sabrina stood up, making a face. "'Scuse me." She told Peaseblossom. "I'm going to go...vent my frustrations."
"Have fun."Peaseblossom chirped.
Sabrina half-smiled at Peaseblossom as she rounded the corner and said, "Oh, I will."
Puck was mad at the world. Specifically, he was mad at confusing teenage girls who made him say things he didn't mean and then got mad at him without telling him why. But he was mad at everyone else, too. How dare they be happy? Today was not a day to be happy.
"Puck, I need help!" Renee complained. "I don't understand this problem!"
"Yeah, well... go get Mustardseed to fix it for you." Puck shrugged. "I'm not in the mood."
"What's with you?" Renee asked, standing. "You're so moody!"
"Renee." Art said pointedly.
The three of them, as well as Jonas, were sitting at a table in the midst of the chaos, waiting for people to settle down enough that they could actually get stuff done. Well, anyway, that's what Art, Jonas, and Renee were doing. Puck was sulking, which was very obvious because he sat there, leaning on the table, with his arms folded in front of them and the bottom of his face buried in his arms, almost mirroring Sabrina's pose across the room. Normally, he'd have been in the middle of the chaos, making it worse than ever, but today he just didn't feel up to it.
"What?" Renee asked. "What did I do? He's the one being all teen angst drama-ey!"
Art gave Renee a pointed stare that Puck pretended not to see, and jerked his head at Puck, mouthing, fought with Sabrina.
"I'm right here." Puck pointed out. "I can see everything you're doing."
"All right, then." Art said, shrugging.
"Why don't you two just go out already?" Renee asked. "It'd be so much simpler for all of us."
"Ah, but Puck told Sabrina last night that he doesn't like her." Art said, smiling knowingly. His expression was ruined by a large sniffle as he wiped his running nose.
"How do you know all this stuff?" Jonas marveled.
"Daphne." Art coughed out, holding his throat.
"Gosh, maybe I should get up close and personal with one of the 'in the know' people." Jonas joked. "Then I wouldn't have to wait to find anything out."
"Sabrina's free, now." Renee pointed out.
Puck sat up straight, slamming his palm down on the table. Then, seeing the others staring at him knowingly, he sank back down into his sulk position and said, "What?"
"Honestly." Renee said. "I'm giving you two until next school year starts, and if you're not together, I'm going to start interfering."
Puck said nothing. And was prevented from saying anything more by the appearance of Wendell, walking up to them with an empty, dazed expression.
"What's wrong?" Renee asked. "Where's Bella? Wasn't she just with you?"
Art nodded, coughing again.
"Yeah." Wendell said, staring at nothing. "She just broke up with me."
Everyone but Puck burst into activity, causing pandemonium at the table. Art practically tipped it over while jumping up, Renee began talking a mile a minute, shooting questions left and right, and Jonas just shouted a long stream of unintelligible nonsense while slamming the table back to its rightful position post-Art.
"Why?" Renee finally asked, once they'd all calmed down.
Wendell shrugged, not looking nearly as shocked by their performance as he normally would have. "She didn't say."
There was a loud crash, and Puck noticed several bookcases fall over. A few seconds later, Sabrina appeared around them, shouting. He couldn't make out what she was saying over all the other shouts, but he watched her, chin in his hand. She was beautiful when she was angry. Her eyes flashed brighter than usual, her face flushed just enough that she wasn't as pale as she normally was, and every muscle in her body was tensed. She looked so alive.
"I bet Sabrina knows why Bella did that." Art suggested. "Hey, Sabrina!" He shouted, taking full advantage of his huge chest to be louder than everyone else.
"What?" Sabrina snapped. "I'm in the middle of something."
"They can handle it without you." Art said. "We need to talk to you." He pointed at Wendell, who was still standing there staring into space.
Sabrina, noticing Wendell for the first time, lost her glare, eyes widening, and hurried over. "Wassup?" She asked, once she'd reached them.
"Why'd she break up with him?" Jonas asked.
"Wow, Jonas, way to be tactful." Renee accused.
Wendell didn't even bother to respond, though he switched his vague gaze to Sabrina.
"She didn't tell you?" Sabrina asked Wendell. "She said she was going to."
Wendell shook his head. "She just said she wanted us to se other people."
Sabrina sat down, pulling Wendell with her. "She doesn't not like you anymore, if that's what you're thinking."
"Well, what else am I supposed to think?" Wendell asked. "It's not like people just break up with each other for no reason!"
"I know." Sabrina said. "She likes you, though. But she had a reason. She likes someone else, too. So she's trying to work things out."
"Can you like two people at once?" Jonas asked, brow furrowed.
"Yes." Sabrina, Art, and Renee answered in tandem.
Puck continued to stare at Sabrina silently, wishing she'd look back at him. Why was she ignoring him? Had he been that nasty last night?
"So she's got to sort through who she likes more before she gets back together with you." Sabrina said. "Look at it this way: at least she's being honest. She's not cheating on you or something."
"Yeah, I guess." Wendell said absently, tracing a design on the table with his fingertip.
"Come on, Wendell, let's go help them get the shelves back up." Renee said sympathetically. "We'll get you a distraction."
She stood, pulling poor Wendell with her, and leaving Sabrina and Puck with Art and Jonas at the table.
"I think I'm going to go help them, too." Art said after a few seconds of silence. "Those shelves are pretty big."
Jonas stayed put. Art gave him a look. Jonas took a while to get the hint, but he eventually stood, saying, "I'm going to go use the bathroom."
Art walked off, still coughing.
Sabrina snorted. "They're so funny when they try to be tactful."
"Right." Puck said. "So... I guess we need to talk?"
"Yeah." Sabrina said. "I guess."
"What did I do?" Puck asked.
"Oh, nothing much." Sabrina said. "Just ruined my formerly awesome day by getting all overprotective and pretty much calling me a slut who can't take care of herself."
"I didn't mean it like that." Puck muttered.
"How did you mean it, then?" Sabrina snapped. "'Cause that's what it sounded like!"
There was a heavy thump in the background as the first bookshelf was put back into place. Neither Sabrina nor Puck turned to look.
"I just meant..." Puck fumbled for words. "You get yourself in situations, Grimm. And... dangit, I hate talking about this stuff. Anything I say is going to come out wrong. Can I get someone to translate for me?"
"No." Sabrina said, straight-faced. "I enjoy watching you suffer."
Puck blinked. "Do you mean that, or...?"
Sabrina shook her head, smiling a bit. "No. Though you deserve it. What you said hurt, Puck. Like, seriously 'I can't believe you said that' hurt."
"Well, I'm sorry." Puck stressed. "I got carried away last night. It wasn't... I don't really think you're that kind of girl."
Sabrina sighed. "And that's all the apology I'm going to get, isn't it? I guess I'll make do."
"You should be greatful!" Puck huffed, wondering if possibly things were going to go back to normal. "I'm the Trickster King! I don't apologize!"
"I guess I'm honored, then." Sabrina joked.
Puck grinned. Things were normal again.
In the background, there was another large thud and a loud cheer. Apparently Art had gotten the shelves back where they belonged. Puck checked. They were upright, but none of the books had been put back. He should probably go help, but he decided he'd claim allergy if anyone asked him.
"So..." Sabrina said after a minute. "This girl you like..."
"What about her?" Puck asked.
"Do I know her?" Sabrina put her hands on her chair and sidled a little closer to him, shoving her shoulders up.
"Not really." Puck hedged, deciding that it was safe to say that. She didn't know her, after all... But he'd have to watch his step, with her lying thing.
"Is she pretty?" Sabrina asked.
"Gorgeous." Puck agreed, glad he could be totally honest with that question.
"Does she go to school here?" Sabrina asked.
"Yeah." Puck said. Gosh, what was this? The Spanish Inquisition?
"So how do I not know her?" Sabrina asked. "If she goes to school here... Is she in the Scarlet Hand?"
All right, that was enough. He sat up straight and said firmly, "We're not having this conversation."
"Fine." Sabrina put her hands in the air in a gesture of surrender. "I'm going to go help them clean up books. Stay here if you want."
Puck watched her walk off, wondering when she'd picked up that hip-swaying walk. It was quite distracting. After a few seconds, he decided that sitting there by himself was pretty pathetic, so he got up to follow her.
He didn't pick up books, of course, just leaned there and watched her do it, which, in his opinion was far better. He got to watch her this way. He loved watching her, would do it all the time if he could. Especially when she was paying attention to something else.
"Are you going to ask her out?" Sabrina asked, lifting a book off the floor and adding it to the stack in her other hand.
"No." Puck said, realizing that he could lie all he wanted when she wasn't looking. Of course, that wasn't a lie, but...
"Why not?" Sabrina asked, carrying her stack to the shelves, where Alice was waiting to replace them in order.
"Because she doesn't like me." Puck answered.
"How do you know?" Sabrina asked. "If I don't know her, you obviously don't see her too often. Unless you're, like, sneaking out to see her, or you met her last month. Did you?"
"Grimm, I already told you we're not having this conversation!" Puck snapped. "I'm not Bella, we don't talk about crushes together!"
"Geesh." Sabrina made a face. "Don't get so defensive. I'm just trying to make conversation."
"Well, why do you care?" Puck asked. "It's my business."
"I'm trying to be supportive." Sabrina snapped. "I could be like you and be like, 'you're going to get yourself hurt if you even go near someone of the opposite sex!' Would you rather I did that?"
"No." Puck said mulishly. "I just want you to stop asking me questions. If I wanted you to know, I'd tell you!"
"All right, then!" Sabrina snapped, dumping her newest stack of books into Alice's hands roughly. "Be like that!"
"I will!" Puck retorted, shoving himself off the bookcase he was leaning on.
Alice sighed. "Can you two cool it for now? It's so much nicer when you're not fighting."
Sabrina stuck her tongue out at Alice, but smiled. "Fine." She looked at Puck. "Truce?"
Puck nodded, wondering why girls had to be so complicated. One minute they were fighting, the next minute they were done. It was like they were all bipolar.
Art, who had been helping pick up books, too, slumped over suddenly, sliding down the wall, coughing heavily.
"Are you OK?" Renee asked, crouching down next to him.
Art shook his head, clutching his throat and still coughing. "Burns." He choked out around lung spasms.
Everyone stared at Art gave another cough and a flame came out of his mouth, singeing Renee's hair.
"Art..." Sabrina said, "I think we should get you to Nurse Spratt, and fast."
Art nodded and pushed himself up off the floor. He stood there for a second, wobbling, then began walking unsteadily for the front of the room. He got about halfway when he collapsed two feet from Tim and Daphne.